Testimonials

We aim to please.

“It’s not always easy finding a talented Architect who allows you to dip into their skills like Stephanie does."

I work in Real Estate and have always enjoyed renovating and project managing the build – it’s the design part that we need to outsource.

We commissioned Stephanie to complete our sketch designs and the results were fantastic. Stephanie just has an innate sense of where to position the house – knowing the direction of the prevailing winds in a suburb for example. She even guided us on which way we should be opening our windows – in our case, left to right – to catch the breeze from the North East. Her designs are incredibly environmentally sensitive, which we love.

Steph came to our place, talked with us at length about what we wanted, then she basically nailed it. What we noticed about Steph was that she listened – Architects aren’t usually known for their listening skills! She’s proactive in her advice and forthright in getting things done for us, but is willing to relinquish control when we’re ready to take over.

We couldn’t be happier with how things have turned out and we can attribute a large part of the success of our renovation to Stephanie.

Sally and Phil Cray, Bardon

Rebecca Ovenden, Sherwood

“Skyring Architects completely transformed our living spaces. We are thrilled with the end result!"

“With four teenagers, we approached Skyring Architects with a brief to ‘please give us more space’!

Our house was boxed in and dark, and while we had little idea what to do, Stephanie nailed it from the start. Our house now flows freely out to the garden and our kitchen and living room open to a beautiful side deck, where we have a wonderful day bed overlooking our new vegie patch. Stephanie has integrated banks of louvers and sliding doors, creating a lovely, light, airy feel to our home.

The whole process, rather than being difficult, was actually enjoyable! Stephanie is a great operator and extremely efficient. If she says she’s going to be there on Wednesday at 10, she’ll be there. If she says the plans will be ready by the following Monday, you’ll receive them that day. When you’re ready to build, Stephanie has all the builders, engineers and soil testers lined up. There were no delays, everyone worked well together and we all knew what was going on at every stage.

Stephanie is also very budget conscious and helps you select quality products that won’t blow your budget. I truly believe we saved money going through Stephanie – usually it’s the opposite and your original budget doubles. She’s very skilled at using your current features and finding building materials that are not only cost effective, but sustainable.

Our meetings were always fun, it was never stressful. We had a big party on the week-end for one of our daughters, and the whole area worked beautifully. That’s the mark of a great Architect – someone whose designs are not only beautiful, but practical and functional as well. “

“Quite simply, we had the most brilliant outcome with Skyring Architects. "

I’ve always believed you can’t have a project come in on time, on budget, and with awesome results, but Stephanie made it all happen!

We’ve never really considered working with an Architect because you hear that they’re always imposing their views, they’re really expensive and they don’t listen. Stephanie was the complete opposite.

This was our first renovation, and Stephanie hand held us through the whole process. She’s great at clearly explaining things and was amazing at coming up with clever ways of solving problems. I’m a control freak and had a huge folder of tear sheets from magazines, covering all sorts of looks, from shabby chic to asian oriental! Somehow, Stephanie managed to match our aesthetic.

We were on really tight timelines too, as I was about to have a baby and we needed the renovation finished. Amazingly, the builder downed tools and I went into labour that night. So Stephanie brought it all together for us – an amazing outcome, on time and within our budget. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Gillian Moody, Gaythorne

Jacqueline Ratcliffe & John Mongard, West End

“It was just a delight working with Skyring Architects. We couldn’t be happier with the result."

Throughout, Stephanie was professional, flexible, versatile and a breeze to work with. Stephanie consults everyone and she LISTENS. She works well with the builders and carpenters as well, which doesn’t always happen! She’s pragmatic when she needs to be, but so creative when we needed guidance.

From wanting a space to do our work, we’ve ended up with a fantastic stand alone building in the back yard – which we’ve named ‘The Shed’. It’s one room, but 3 levels, with space for me to do my craft and for my partner to do his work. It’s fully wired, and comes complete with a small kitchen and bathroom, so it’s rentable space as well. We got all this, within the budget we’d set aside.”

I love design and Neill works in the construction industry, so we were keen to do a lot of the work ourselves and only needed the initial design plans done by an Architect. We knew we didn’t want a full Architectural service as we wanted to run the project. However, we knew we needed the design support of a professional.

Skyring Architects offers this support through their great Design Ideas Workshop service –you can tap into their skills where you need them. It’s brilliant…

Budget wise, it basically enabled us to do everything we wanted to do.

Stephanie is great at working out how people live and move around a house. Her designs were perfect – elegant, practical and environmentally sensitive. Plus, they were easy to follow!

Stephanie is just so easy to work with as well; she’s direct, real world, honest and practical. She understands the process of design, not just from the perspective of an Architect. So often you hear builders complaining about the impracticality of an Architect’s design, but this didn’t occur with Stephanie. She seems to be able to reconcile everyone’s perspectives.

We love our new home – the natural light, the breeze, the layout, it’s a really beautiful result. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without Stephanie.

Adrienne & Neill Baxter, Bardon

Hanne Paust, New Farm

“I found the whole Design Ideas Workshop process fantastic. With Stephanie’s help, I saved time and money.

I saw Stephanie’s work in the Brisbane News and was really impressed with her aesthetic and environmental focus. I had designed and planned my own renovation. The plans were ready, but once I started working on the specifications, I admit I felt a little overwhelmed. I felt I need the professional input of an Architect, so engaged Stephanie.

Stephanie has written a brilliant DIY guide, which I used throughout the planning process. I then engaged Stephanie for a period of 4 hours, during which time she reviewed my plans and specifications, and talked about the design, materials and product selection. Stephanie went through each point, identified what was missing (insulation, gutters etc) and generally gave me advice on putting the project out to tender.

I ended up with clear, comprehensive specifications – and importantly, peace of mind that I had everything covered and had considered every angle. What I love about Skyring Architect’s Design Ideas Workshop service is the fact I remain in charge of the project, but can still tap into the skills of an experienced Architect like Stephanie. Attempting to send my unchecked specifications to numerous builders would have been a lengthy, drawn out process. “

"Working from an ordinary base, Stephanie came up with a very workable design concept for our office. It is now a space we’re now proud to share with our clients and colleagues."

We quickly developed a good working relationship with Stephanie and her team, and we’re very happy with the results. Our office space was

functional, but was basically a box like structure with a series of wasted spaces and limited aesthetic interest. We now have more usable space, storage and utility and an office with greater visual connectivity between outside and in – making it an open and well-lit space in which to work. Rather than working in a bland box like office, we’re now surrounded by a space that’s more functional, and far more aesthetically pleasing and interesting.

Steve Craven, Craven Ovenden Town Planning

Joanne Pathe, Holland Park

We have friends who’ve had disappointing experiences with architects – some of whom seemed oblivious to budget constraints, didn’t listen and expected our friends to throw out all their existing furniture and start again. Stephanie was the complete opposite. From the start, she took great care to understand OUR requirements and ideas. She was mindful of our budget – instead of suggesting we throw everything out and start again, she factored our current fittings and furniture into her plans.

Stephanie is an incredibly talented architect. She has turned what was a dated, oppressive and dark house into a contemporary, light filled home that’s eminently more liveable…all within our budget. Her designs showed sensitivity to the environment and we hardly use our air conditioner anymore.

She organised several quotes from builders, which can become a nightmare if you have to source quotes yourself and she worked in conjunction with the builders. In the end, she effectively saved us money. The whole process was seamless and we’re incredibly delighted with the results. “

“The Design Ideas Workshop is an excellent service and exceptional value for what you get."

My husband and I had been working on renovation plans for our 1930s home for a few years. We didn’t want a full architectural service because we both wanted to manage the project and be part of the process. We felt however that we needed the advice of an Architect to ensure we had covered all options in our designs.

We researched Skyring Architects after seeing them mentioned in a Sustainability Magazine and were impressed with the flexibility of their services.

We ended up going with Stephanie Skyring’s Design Ideas Workshop, a 3 or 4 hour session in which you can ‘tap into’ her knowledge and skills as an Architect.

We were impressed with Stephanie from the start. Stephanie has a great sustainable ethic, she’s conscious of using existing materials on site and she intrinsically knows a myriad of things like where to position windows to capture the breeze. During the session, we worked through a range of scenarios and Stephanie was able to answer all our questions. I ended the session with complete confidence that we had the best plans possible. Stephanie even threw in her DIY Design Guide book which provides general advice and a list of her trusted contacts.”